How long does it take YOU to wash?

On average, it takes about 2 hrs to do a complete wash. The part i don't like is washing the wheels and wheels well as it's time consuming and require more effort compared to body panels.
 
On my f150 supercab with a Leer cap on the back a regular hose and two bucket wash takes me about an hour without dressing tires and trim. Add tire and trim dressing and that becomes an hour and 15 minutes. This doesn't include whatever time it takes to get the hose, fill buckets, empty buckets, put the hose away, etc etc. Can definetly add another 10 minutes for all that.



If I keep up with the Spray and Wipe say...twice a week, I can do a full body cleaning in 15 minutes and just do the wheels/tires/trim once a week.



That darn Leer cap added a good 10 minutes to the wash/dry time and a few minutes for added trim and glass. I love having the cap but I don't particularly enjoy the extra area to keep clean. Oh well, gotta learn to live with it.
 
For a normal weekly washing it takes me about an hour and I use 1 bucket and two wash mitts.



For the times when I do a full detailing jog it can take 3-4 hours.
 
Strictly wash and dry on my car (a Miata) is about 40 minutes if just towel-dried, 45 minutes including blowing air into crevices. Add another 10-15 minutes for QD. Weekly washing and practice got me to wash car in less time and with better results.
 
On a different thread, people are :eek: about why in the world it takes me so long to do some of my cars, so here's MY post on this. Depends on the car, but it seems to take me a long time. Note that I do wheelwells, door jambs, under the hood and most of the undercarriage with every wash, even on the beaters.



Note also that I often work at a pace that is aerobically demanding, and I'm in shape. I have a very efficient setup, with a hose and two buckets on EACH side of the vehicle. Climate controlled garage, great lighting, good dust control. Yeah, Lynn, I gotta post pics :o



Last night the MPV took me 1 hr. 45 min. for an exterior wash and dry. And I was truly working as fast as I can move, using two boar's hair brushes, one in each hand. It took nearly 30 min to do the wheels (including the back sides) and the wheelwells/undercarriage alone. Another 30 min or so to apply a quick coat of SG, which I just now took off. I think could've done the WRX a little quicker due to its smaller size. Those are two of the vehicles I don't mind rushing on.



Washing the S8 takes me a minimum of three hours, but I do that one VERY carefully (hose nozzle INSIDE the mitt, redunking in wash solution at least 4-5 times per panel). I must spend half an hour just under the hood (gotta disassemble the cladding a bit to clean things right). Claying that one can take quite a while, depending on what it's picked up. It took me a week to BF it because I could only work for a few hours at a time most days (don't forget the need for cure time, either). That was using a Cyclo to apply and remove wherever possible. The grill, for instance, took HOURS (and MANY swabs), but I did it with several coats and I got EVERY square millimeter of it, same with the door jambs, painted areas under the hood, etc., etc. It REALLY took a long time to pull, clean, BF, and remount the wheels (doing the wheelwells and whatever I could reach in/under there too). As a result of all this effort (most of the exterior got at least three coats), it's still beading/sheeting and looking great SEVEN months later.



And I've been working on the XJS since early April, what I consider a sorta quick clean-up so I can actually DRIVE it this year :D
 
1 1/2 hours average for me on a typical sedan car. This is only the basic wash, dry and glass cleaner. What makes the process seem slow is the cleaning of the wheels, wheelwells and rocker panels. You wouldn't even begin to fathom how dirty the streets of Manila are, so a lot of time is spent removing all that gunk.
 
Dale DeSteno said:
man, my wash and dry USED to take about 45 minutes, now I am on the hour and a half progam. My old condo had 'softer' water, and my new house has water that is HARD AS ROCK!! I have to re-rinse each panel as I am drying and I fight with water spots like no ones business!! Wax As You Dry helps, and QD helps, but what I really need to do get a mist/pump/spray thing for gardening and fill it up with RO water or soft water and use that as my final rinse....

You shoulda heard me cussin' & swearin' over the weekend while drying the Civic...THEN I thought of the sprayer idea last night-oh well. Thanks whoever posted that idea originally!
Click to expand...



Hard Water, tell me about it! I had the hardest water. Used to drive me crazy, especially washing on hot days when the cars want to dry too fast.



I finally went out and spent $1400.00 on a water softener. Had to sell the wife by touting the healthy skin and ease of keeping the shower doors clean (both true by the way, but not MY primary motives).



Anyway it's much better now. Still possible to get water spots, but they're minor and easy to avoid.
 
It generally takes me an hour to wash my truck. It's not the washing that takes the time, it's cleaning the wheels and tires and then the drying. Of course I always miss a spot or two in the process
 
My Mazda MPV last wash took me nearly 2 hours.

3/4 hour rince-wash

3/4 hour dry

1/4 hour sills & jambs

1/4 hour tires



then the time needed to get things ready to wash and afterwards to put things away where they belong



Christiaan
 
How long to does it take to wash???



When the weather is optimal (60's-70's) slightly overcast and not too windy, my basic wash & dry for the Max. takes about 2.5 - 3 hours, on the wife's Ody ('das boat') add 30-40 minutes. I wash tires, wheels (between the spokes to the other side of the tire) and wheel wells first (taking up the first 45 minutes or so), remove bugs from bumper, hood edges, windshield and mirrors, & pre-wash any other heavily soiled spots. Using fresh water/Z-7, (or MGC for the Ody) I commense to washing top, sides, front and back.



I don't have any shade on my driveway until nearly sunset, so during the hot and humid KC summer, it's a real hussling chore to wash, rinse and keep everthing wet until I can move into the garage to dry before water gets baked. After drying, I damp clean door jambs/sills and inside trunk, hood, and hit and miss inside the engine compartment. Oh yeah, damp wipe the dash, seats & touch up windows. If I have any energy or time left, I'll do a little Z-6 and Z-16 spritzing (adds 15-20 minutes.) And if I really have the time and spirit, I'll apply a coat of Z-5 or Z-2, etc. for another 15-30 minutes.



On those days when I do both cars, I'm pretty worn out for the rest of the day (if there's any day left) and stiff the following day.



I envy those who can wash & dry their cars in an hour or less.
 
It usually takes me almost two hours for a compact car. It takes me about half an hour of rinsing the whole car, underbody, wheel wells and cleaning the rims/tires. Then I wash the paint and rinse each panel after i wash it. Then I do a final rinse and dry the car with a WW MF towel. I then dry all the door/trunk jambs, wheels and anyplace where water droplets come out. Then I dress the tires and that's pretty much it. But I enjoy all that time spent washing.
 
20 Minutes for wash and dry. Using two buckets. One wash mit for tops and another for bottoms. Dry witht he absorber second time around a MF for door jams. Add 10 more minutes to whip out the air lines and blow out all the creases.
 
Cars: for a full service wash (wash, dry, tires, tire dressing, wheels, vac, wipe down, windows), about 30 minutes when I'm realling hauling and 45 minutes average.

SUVs/Vans: full service wash takes 45-65 minutes, depending on how big and how dirty the interior is.
 
Normally it takes me about 45 minutes to wash my Protege. I try and keep every panel wet since there is hardly any shade where I wash my car.
 
It takes about 45 minutes to wash and dry Betsy. Quick detail about 20 minutes, polishing wheels 20 minutes. This is done at least weekly. If I do a thorough job including dressing tires, and polishing glass, waxing, it can take up to 4 hours.
 
take me 2-3 hours



course I wash entirely by hand using mini-microfiber towel and a foam dispenser (which makes for rinsing at least after every section) and MAKING ABSOLUTELY SURE there is not a single spec of contaminent anywhere on any paint surface of my car.
 
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